One more death in home blast

Meanwhile, authorities have discovered explosives in another house.

Ho Sy Cuong, who was taken to People 115 Hospital in cardiac and respiratory arrest and in a coma after being crushed in the explosion, died Monday morning, said Dr Nguyen Dinh Phu, deputy director of the hospital.

The hospital exempted Cuong’s family from the entire medical fee, Dr Phu said.

Two of Cuong’s relatives, Nguyen Thi Tan Xuan, 44, his daughter-in-law, and Ho Kieu Anh, 17, his grandniece, died at the scene of the explosion.

The blast also killed Le Minh Phuong, 58, who was an expert in using explosives to create fire and smoke effects for movies, his wife, his three children and his younger sister.

Phuong, who was also director of the Lac Viet Recreation Joint Stock Company, had rented the house at 384/9 Nam Ky Khoi Nghia, Ward 8 District 3 to live in and store materials, including explosives, used for special effects.

A funeral for the six deceased members of Phuong’s family was held at Vinh Nghiem Pagoda yesterday. More than 300 artists attended.

The bodies of the deceased were then taken to the Binh Hung Hoa Cremation Center in Binh Chanh District.

Immediately after the deadly blast, the HCMC High Command reviewed and screened suspicious houses and discovered another house that Phuong had rented to store explosives, said Colonel Le Buu Tuan, deputy chief of the High Command.

Sappers and explosive experts were sent to the house at 461 Hoang Sa, Ward 8, District 3, for examination, and local residents were temporarily evacuated from their homes for safety reasons on Sunday.

At 5 pm sappers found a number of cartons containing dynamite and removed them from the house safely.

Unlicensed to use explosives

Colonel Nguyen Van Dung, head of the HCMC Police Department for Administrative Management of Social Order, said only agencies or organizations that are fully owned by the State are allowed to manufacture and/or use industrial explosives, and only companies under the Defense Ministry are eligible for a license to trade such goods.

Under these regulations, Phuong’s private company is not eligible for a license to use any type of explosive, Dung said.

The department has yet to fine any entities for creating fire and/or explosion effects since there are no regulations on the management of this field.

In practice, State-owned film firms usually sign a contract with a military unit to create such effects, Dung elaborated.

Police are trying to determine what types of explosives Phuong had stored.

It is possible that Phuong had bought industrial chemicals from Kim Bien Market in HCMC’s District 5 and then used them to produce explosives.

However, this assumption is being investigated and clarified by investigators, Dung said.